How big (sovereign) is God?

God being sovereign - in control - doesn't mean he runs things in a wooden, mechanical, or "interfering" way; setting aside, bypassing, or overriding the will of people, but by organically incorporating - not causing - the ¹evil choices we make to bring about His ultimate good ends.

Evil, however, is no less evil because of this. We should still despise and resist evil, not rejoice in it, or be stoically resigned to it. It harms others and us and dishonors God. Outside of Christ, people will still be held accountable for it. It is evil. 

But we can rest and rejoice in knowing that God is bigger than evil, i.e. sovereign over it. God is big enough that evil doesn't prevent Him from accomplishing His perfect and good purposes, but evil becomes a means by which He brings them about. The ultimate example is in the following passage. 

Acts 2:23 "... this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of ²lawless men."

Did good come out of the death of Christ? Yes, the ultimate and greatest good of all. His death is the doorway through which we can (and must) go through to be restored and reunited with God. 

Did this occur by the means of wicked men's actions? Absolutely. 

Are those who carried out these evil deeds accountable for those actions? Totally. If they go into eternity outside of Christ, they will be held fully responsible and accountable. 

Was God in control over those events? Perfectly. He planned them, yet no one's will was ³violated or overridden. The irony, wonder, and mystery are those evil actions became the very means by which God brought about the deliverance of even those directly responsible for His death - if or when they turned to Christ.

Evil ⁴does not and can not stop God from accomplishing his good purpose. In fact, it actually becomes the means by which it is brought about. In this way, God is in perfect control. However, it is "organic" not mechanical. It (God's sovereignty) does not override and cause the choices of others, it incorporates them. This is why those of us who love Him can be thankful for all things - some of which are in themselves evil - while still hating that which is evil. This is why man is still responsible for his wrong choices and actions while God is still working in all things for the good of those who love him. God is so big He can let evil continue to exist and still be in total and perfect control in advancing His good purposes. Nothing can thwart God from bringing about good in all things, even evil things. God is that big! 

When Paul understood how God used the very rebellion (evil) of Israel to bring salvation to all mankind (good) he exclaimed...

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36 

For a further discussion on how God uses evil for good click here. 

For a further discussion on how greater evil can result in greater good click here. 

For a discussion on how God allowing evil to remain is still for our good click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of choice click here 

For a discussion on how we are accountable for something, we can not do unaided click here. 

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¹Of course, He incorporates the good choices as well and they are always better than bad ones, but this is much easier to understand so it's not a talking point for this post but worth mentioning. For a discussion on the value of good choices over bad click here. 

²Acts 2:23. 

"This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross." New International Version (NIV)

"this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³This is also why God will not automatically include everyone to enter His eternal bliss. Our coming to Christ and being with him in eternity must be our choice. He will not override our will of refusing to trust God no more than he will cause us to do evil. 

⁴A common question is, if God is good why does He allow evil and suffering to continue? I heard it said that if God could not bring good out of evil, evil would not exist. The fact that evil remains, for now, may not be fully understood, but at least we know that it is not the final word. By Christ coming and taking the pain and suffering of our rebellion into his own body and soul and allowing the full weight of evil to condemn and kill him, he forever overcame death - our separation from God, the ultimate outcome of evil. Death is not the final word, life is, by Christ's resurrection first, and ours in and through him. If we accept his offer of taking our death upon himself - so we would not have to be eternally separated from God - we too will forever overcome it just as He did. God used the greatest evil - the murder of the very Son of God by the hands of wicked men - to bring about the greatest good; our restoration to Him.

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion of how big is our God click here

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here.

#Calvinist.